Whew! What a year, Oakland! Even before Occupy Oakland provided a year’s worth of news on its own, 2011 was a banner year for city news.

The city government marked some prominent new arrivals — most notably Mayor Jean Quan, who took office after a hard-fought ten-way electoral battle — as well as some significant departures, including the resignations of Police Chief Anthony Batts and City Attorney John Russo, and the death of longtime City Hall watchdog Sanjiv Handa.

It was a tumultuous year as Oakland came close to shuttering most of its libraries due to a $58 million budget deficit, as the school board faced repeated protests over its controversial decision close five elementary schools, as a judge weighed the fate of the Fruitvale gang injunction, and voters began to petition for the recall of Mayor Quan.

Here’s Oakland North’s guide to the biggest local stories in 2011 — and please cast your vote in our poll for which of three of these events you think will most influence the city’s future.

The city’s police department got a dose of good news, bad news. On the 15th, nearly all of the department’s 57 problem solving officers returned to the beat after having been laid off during the 2010 budget cuts, but only a few days later, news broke that Police Chief Anthony Batts was being considered for the top cop job in San Jose. While he ultimately wasn’t offered the position, Batts said that his future in Oakland remained unclear, citing the city’s spike in violent crime and his frustrations with police understaffing.

Meanwhile the death of Raheim Brown, who was shot by Oakland Unified School District security officers after he allegedly attacked an officer with a screwdriver outside of Skyline High School set off protests among those concerned about police brutality.

Meanwhile, debate at city council meetings heated up over plans for a Fruitvale gang injunction, which would levy restrictions on the movements of alleged Norteno gang members within an area called a “safety zone.” The City Attorney’s Office had filed for the injunction in October, 2010, but beginning in February, the council began to hear reports and public comments on the cost and efficacy of the proposed injunction, as well as concerns about the possibilities of racial profiling and civil liberties violations. Also in February, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman began hearing testimony in order to make a decision about whether to impose a preliminary injunction against 40 alleged members of the Nortenos.

Two of the biggest local stories in March involved food — the heated debate over the proposed ban on shark fins, and the levying of citations and possible fines against urban homesteader Novella Carpenter’s Ghost Town Farm, which kicked off a much broader citywide debate about backyard agriculture and animal husbandry, an issue that would continue to draw heated discussion throughout the year.

City officials began considering serious budget cutbacks after announcing the city could face a budget deficit as large as $58 million for the 2011-2012 year. Mayor Quan had initially proposed her Measure I parcel tax for a special summer ballot as a gap-closing measure, but the council did not address the issue in time, so the measure was ultimately placed on the November ballot.

Debate also began over the city’s regulation of mobile food trucks, as supporters pushed for looser boundaries over where they can do business, and critics warned that trucks can cause problems for brick and mortar restaurants, and that in some neighborhoods they are associated with crime and prostitution. (You can find Oakland North’s guide to East Bay food trucks here.)

Meanwhile Judge Robert Freedman ruled in favor of a preliminary gang injunction against 5 of the 40 alleged Norteno gang members named in the injunction, a ruling that imposed a 10 pm curfew on the men and prohibits them from wearing gang colors within a 450-block “safety zone,” among other restrictions.

In one of the highest profile crimes of the year, Oaklanders mourned the death of three-year-old Carlos Nava, who was killed in a drive-by shooting. Oakland law enforcement officials later arrested and charged two men in the incident.

Here at Oakland North, over the course of the year approximately 40 UC Berkeley journalism grad students wrote, shot, recorded, edited and published everything on this site. Thank you to all of our wonderful readers for your constant support, thoughtful comments and never-ending supply of story tips. Happy New Year — we’ll see you all in 2012!

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